Yesterday I vistited the Castle Museum in Norwich for the first time in ages (it is funny that when you have these places on your doorstep you never seem to go to them?)
But they have a special exhibition to celebrate The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, the Royal Portraits by Cecil Beaton.
He is one of my favourite photographers so I wanted to go along and see his insight into the Queen and her family.
Beaton started his career in the 1920’s with illustrations and photographs for Vogue and as he wrote in his diary got a call from The Queen’s private secretary early in 1939 to say that he was needed to take pictures of the Queen and her two daughters. His diary conveys his excitement and intense planning and pressure that went into these portraits. Over the years he was called upon to record significant occasions in history including the Coronation in 1953.
The exhibition shows the transformation of the first sitting of the young Princess Elizabeth in 1942 as a young girl to the Queen in 1968.
There are some beautiful slightly more informal shots of the Queen, as well as the official Coronation portraits.
I spent a lovely morning taking in the changing face of our Queen and her family, with a glimpse of the inside of Buckingham Palace and it’s gardens.
The exhibition is well worth a visit, I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside but there are is a book and some lovely postcards available to buy in the gift shop.
